Suction cleaner



Feb. 29, 1944. G, sM l 2,342,905

SUCTION CLEANER Original Filed May 24, 1934 INVENTOR Donald Gfimellie ATTORN EY Patented Feb. 29, 1944 SUCTION CLEANER Donald G. Smellie, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application m 2 4, 1934, semi No. 727,212. Divided and this application October 20, 1937, Serial No. 169,972 a 3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in suction cleaners and more particularly to the application of a-sound-reducing member or muffler to a suction cleaner and consisting generally of a tubular extension of the exhaust outlet from the body of the cleaner extending longitudinally within the dirt collecting bag or receptacle.

To be effective as a noise reducing member,

the mufller must not only follow a definite contour and internal surface treatment but must also be of such length as to exwnd throughout a considerable portion of the length of the dirt bag within which it is enclosed. To take advantage of the required length of the mufller it is quite essential that the bag and the mufller be more or less combined as a unit not only for removable attachment to the body of the cleaner but also in their bodily movement with the handle during the operation of the cleanerf Bearing in mind that the ordinary dirt receptacle has the form of an elongated cloth bag supported at one end by the handle and at its other end has connection with the exhaust outlet from the fan chamber of the cleaner, it follows that to maintain a relatively stationary position of the muiiler within the bag that the handle and the outlet connection must be so interconnected as to swing together, as the handle must be free to do in the maneuvering of the cleaner over the surface to be cleaned.

It is therefore the primary object oi the present invention .to provide a construction wherein an effective and efficient muffler may be utilized by providing an arrangement whereby the handle, the dirt bag, and the mufiler move together as a unit thereby avoiding the extremelyawkward arrangement which would result if the handle and the major portion of the dirt bag were free to swing and the muiiler remained relatively stationary.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and in connection with the accompanying drawing.

This application is a division of an application filed May 24, 1934, and bearing Serial No. 727,212.

Referring now to the drawing: up

Figure 1 is a side view of the suction cleaner constructed in accordance with the present invention, certain parts being broken away;

.Figure 2 is a section upon the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section upon the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a front elevation, certain parts being broken away, of the body of the cleaner shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a partial side view of the cleaner with the bag and mufller unit removed thereirom.

In the operation of the modern high speed suction cleaner the air rushing at high velocity from the cleaner fan chamber is the sourceof alarge part of the cleaner noise. In the suction cleaner constructed in accordance with the present invention it is possible to provide an elongated hollow tubular member into which the air passing from the fan chamber exhausts. This elongated hollow tubular member embodies sound-deadening features and by the time the air has passed through it into the bag the greater part of the vibrations which create the undesirable noise have been eliminated. This construction is possible in the surface covering cleaner constructed in accordance with the present invention because no relative movement takes place between the cleaner fan chamber, the pivoted handle, and the dust bag.

Referring to Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, a pre-' ferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed. The cleaner nozzle l is mounted upon a frame which is supported by spaced pairs of front and rear wheels 2, 2 and 3, 3, respectively. The driving motor 4 is positioned with its axis parallel to the nozzle I, and its shaft carries at one end a driving pulley 5 and at its opposite end a suction-creating Ian 6. A power-transmitting belt l connects pulley 5 to a rotating agitator 8 within the nozzle I, while the fan 6 is eifective, in the operation of the cleaner, to create a reduced pressure in nozzle I through being directly connected thereto. The combination motor casing and fan chamber 9 carries the motor 4 and fan 6 and is itself rotatable about the motor axis through being provided with sealed bearings I ll and ll at its opposite ends on the rearwardly extending side channels of the nozzle I. The exhaust outlet l2 of the fan chamber is formed rigidly on and extends tangentially from the casing 9 and is provided at its end with a flange and bag-clamping means 13.

The handle of the cleaner is indicated by the reference character H and is rigidly connected to the casing 9, as shown in Figure 1. The incoming current leads [5 enter handle H near its upper end and are connected through a manually operable switch-l6 before passing down the handle to be connected to the motor 4 in any suitable manner.

The cleaner dust bag I1 is providedwith a cated by the reference character 23.

outer end of exhaust outlet 52 and is adapted to be secured thereto in sealed relationship by the manually operable bag-clamping means i3, ii

the bag is folded and y The open upper end of held in the closed and sealed relationship means of an enclosing U-shaped channel i) whichv is supported, by means of a spring 28, from the handle.

. Pleidly carried by the bag ring it? is an elongated tubular mufier 28 which is in alignment with the exhaust outlet l2. Muiller 2%, in this embodiment, comprises an outer metallic casing 22 and a spaced inner metallic face or sleeve 23 which is perforated. The space between sleeve 23 and the outer casing 22 is filled with sounddeadening materialsuch as felt, which is indi- The per iorations in the inner sleeve 23 are not suficiently large to permit the sound-deadening Inaterial to pass therethrough yet are large enough that theypr'ovide an adequate area to efiect vibration dampening. At the end of the muffler a collapsible valve 25, preferably of cloth or fabric,

is provided which functions to prevent the return into the muliler of foreign matter by an air current set up by the bag back pressure when the suction-creating fan has ceased to rotate at the end of a cleaning operation.

The operation of the cleaner constructed in accordance with the present invention is easily understood. With the machine positioned noon the surface covering which is to be cleaned, the closing of the switch iiiby the operator causes the motor 1 to rotate the pulley and the suo-= titan-creating fan 6. Pulley 55 transmits its rotat-log torque through the belt J to the agitator 23 within the nozzle, and the suction-creating ian i5 withdraws air from the nozzle and exhausts it through the exhaust outlet 52 into the mufiler 23 through which it passes into the bag ll where the suspended foreign matter is removed, the air filtering each into the surrounding atmosphere. Because the parts pivot as a unit about the axis A of the motor 3 no relative movement takes place between the ran chamber exhaust outlet 92, the

Y ill from the securing means mufier 2!, the bag ll and the handle it as the handle is pivoted by the operator in moving the cleaner back and forth over the surface covering. This relationship is essential as rigid mufier tube it must be relatively long in order to be eficient. Were the cleaner of the usual type in' which the handle it pivots relative to the body of the machine and the bag ll bends about its point oi attachment to the cleaner body as the handle pivots, it would be impossible to use the elongated mumer element.

Upon the use of the machine for a reasonable length of time it becomes necessary for the bag W to be cleaned and the foreign matter removed therefrom. To accomplish this operation, it is necessary only to remove manually the bag rin as, as and td'detach the upper end of the bag from the supporting channel it. The bag at its upper end can then be pulled down over the mufiler into a reversed relationship in which the interior of the bag is upon the outside and all foreign matter can he removed.

Having set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, 1 claim:

l. A dust deflector for a suction cleaner bag, comprising an elongated tubular body portion insertable into the mouth of the has. said defiector being made of material having an element of rigidity for maintaining said tubular form, said body nortion having a circumscrlbing flange at one end thereoi'said flange being in angular relation with said tubular body portion.

2. A suction cleaner mufiler, comprising an elongated rigid tube forming a passageway for air exhausted from a suction cleaner and having a sound-deadening lining of a relatively soft pliable material, and meansv at one end of said tube for attaching a dirt collecting receptacle.

3. in a suction cleaner muiiler, the combination of an elongamd metallic tube forming a passageway'for air exhausmd from said cleaner and having a sound-deadening lining of a relatively soft pliable material in said tube and a flexible valve at the freeend thereof.

DQNALD G. SMELLZE. 

